Hurricane Matthew’s impending landfall late Thursday evening has triggered massive preparation efforts across the southeast region of the country. Supplies at grocery stores are being cleared out, public schools are closing, games rescheduled – even a Garth Brooks concert moved to accommodate the storm.
One of the most impactful decisions made amidst the media maelstrom was announced Wednesday morning, the collaborative decision by both UCF and Tulane athletic departments to postpone their Friday night showcase on a national broadcast to November 5th.
“Taking into account all the latest projections for Hurricane Matthew, we have to keep the safety of everyone involved in these events at the forefront of our decision-making,” UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Daniel J. White said in a statement released by the University.
Tulane’s sentiments read in the same manner.
“This was the best decision to ensure the safety of all involved,” Tulane Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said. “Our entire Tulane community extends any support and assistance that may be needed to our friends at UCF. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who may affected by this hurricane.”
The decision was made exponentially easier and more apparent in considering that the two programs shared a bye week during conference play, squeezing in a game between two of the toughest conference opponents on the schedule – an October 29 game in Houston and a November 12 matchup at home against the Cincinnati Bearcats, both conference powerhouses.
It is a choice that transcends sports. No matter the impact on lost revenues this week, weighing in the tougher stretch of schedule late in the season, or the bookings of those coming from out of town to the game.
Bumping the game back to Saturday would not have been enough, considering the travel implications of fans and student athletes alike.
“I think this decision, to focus beyond a football game, to focus beyond two athletics programs, is the right thing to do in respect to health and safety of all student athletes and also with respect to making sure that we’re keeping in mind potential inclement weather, potential tragic weather in other parts of the county,” said Professor Scott Bukstein, the Associate Program Director of the DeVos Sports Business Management program at UCF.
“Changing the game to Saturday would not have alleviated the need for teams to travel prior to Saturday. It looks like the weather will be less than ideal starting Thursday afternoon through Friday, so logistically, travel would have been difficult. Given that both teams had a bye on November 5th, it seems like a logical, rational decision.”
For fans looking forward to an extended tailgate (looking at you, @UCFProblems), it may be a disappointment to lose out on the weekend’s festivities – but is ultimately the only reasonable call the university could make.
“From a fan’s perspective, I would hope and think that the fans respect the focus on health and safety of participants of the game, health and safety of fans who will need to travel before Saturday. For those people planning on traveling to the game on Friday, they likely would have still arrived on the same day and stayed a day later. That would have meant that more fans traveling would have been in Orlando for the inclement weather,” said Bukstein.
On a slightly different train of thought, here are some of the attendance numbers for UCF home games played during the week over the past few years:
2015: Average Home Attendance 30,065; Average Weekend Game Attendance 30,501
39,184 Thursday, 9/3 vs. FIU [Home Opener]
23,734 Thursday, 11/19 vs. ECU
25,967 Thursday, 11/26 vs. USF [Thanksgiving]
2014: Average Home Attendance 37,978; Average Weekend Attendance 37,772
41,657 Thursday, 10/9 vs. BYU [OT Thriller]
35,323 Friday, 11/14 vs. Tulsa
2013: Average Home Attendance 42,084; Average Weekend Attendance 47,459
30,065 Thursday, 8/29 vs. Akron [Home Opener]
37,978 Thursday, 11/21 vs. Rutgers
42,084 Friday, 11/29 vs. UCF [Black Friday]
Weekday home games – while excellent for national TV exposure and spreading the UCF brand awareness – have a steady tendency to under-perform in filling Bright House Network Stadium. The exception here is of course, a rivalry game in 2013 leading into the UCFiesta Bowl, the marquee matchup of 2014, and the home opener of a season following the Knights’ second consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship Title. Outside of those two games, the numbers are significantly lower for home games hosted on a weeknight.
Also consider that this game falls under the broadcast rights contract between the American Athletic Conference and ESPN, but will not have a negative impact in the school’s payout from their share of the revenue according to UCF Athletics.
So not only was moving the game the right choice for the health, safety and welfare of all parties involved, but it seems that Hurricane Matthew has quietly presented UCF with another prime time weekend game – perfect for the university’s revenue generation and for fans looking for the complete package of a full gameday experience.
